Fast Forward Three Years

I stumbled upon my blog - this blog - and I abruptly became attached to the idea of writing another post again. It is my joy to write. I know my grammar isn't perfect, but the love of writing and practicing in English is always fun for me.

It is indeed three years since my last post. That is kinda weird really. But now, I am still with the company where I started it all -- Accenture. Just to update you blog (and my conscious readers), I am now promoted as a Junior Team Lead in our company, though it will become official come December 1, 2014. Before that, I became an A-Lister for People Developer/Business Operator Award. Those two are really what made my career in Accenture leap forward. Whew, I didn't know that time flies so fast indeed.

Well, fast forward three years. Before being a JTL though, I became officially a Level G last May 2013. Then, to further update you, I took my Master of Arts in Education Major in Educational Technology as Iskolar ng Bayan at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.  Isn't it great to see how far I have gone? Some would envy me, but still, I am yet to still reach my dreams.

Of course, I am really glad to be promoted as Junior Team Lead. While I am writing this, I'm gonna wake up at 1:00 AM, do all the preparations and stuff, and leave our home at 2:00-2:30 AM to meet my manager at 4:00 AM. At 5:00 AM, I'll be joining a training with my new team. Yes, my new team, and I am still so nervous and am hoping we'll be friends.

After my shift, I'll go to my Tuesday class under Prof. Que for our class in Instructional Systems Development. It'll gonna be a loooong day. God bless to me!

 

An Accent on the 'T': It's Accenture!

It's been a while since my last post here. I don't even know if this blog still has its circulatory system. I still have this solid hope that my heart into writing to keep this blog pumping still has not vanished in existence -- even if I have no readers here.

Yup, I'm a working boy (or man?) now. I am a data analyst in Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. I say that I'm situated in a "sosyal" part of the Philippines, which is Eastwood City, and my past imaginary thought of it came into reality. This is one of my dreams, to be in a wealthy community even if I'm not that rich. Haha. I have newfound friends even, so here are some of our pics. I don't wanna go into detail right now. :)

Hope Peeks In

It's been a while since my last post, and I must absolutely say that this one's one of the most beautiful days ever. Finally, I can, I guess, safely say that I'm about to graduate. Why? We already had our pre-graduation picture taking at our university studio. It was my first time to smile (with my somehow protruding teeth showing) on my graduation picture! Achievement for me, though not very photogenic but at least it was nice as I looked at it.

Well, this is graduation with no Latin honors nor flying colors - just graduation. I think the real essence of graduation is not really if you're a summa, a magna, or a cum laude. Acquiring the diploma itself is a sure testimony to the degree you have labored for for a couple of years. What I am glad about is that we already finished our thesis. We're just readying ourselves to have our documentation checked by the panelists during our defense. Oh yes, the defense was sort of easy yet there was a certain difficulty at the end, especially when they had our program debugged (which really bugged me a lot).

Hope peeks in. Graduation day's waiting for me.

It's Christmas Eve!

Yipee! Another Yuletide season has come, and still I remember those childhood days of mine when Christmas was so special. Well, Christmas is always one of my two most favorite holidays. The other is New Year. Christmas is of course, a day of celebrating Jesus Christ's birth as well as sharing what you have to other people.

Oh yeah, IT"S MY LATEST POST since last time. That was several months ago. I think my indolence keeps me from doing things which are ought to be done here - to give even the slightest hint of justice I could ever give to this fly-infested blog.

Anyway, my family was done singing using our new MIDI karaoke. It has a wide selection of songs that is tantamount to those videoke machines with coin slots on them. I say bravo, having a sort of music to enliven up our house. And we also have our visitors - Kuya Bryan, Hogan, Tito Benny, and Tito Boy. We also have my cousins Joan and Warren plus Tita Carmen, to make our house even MORE Christmas-y.

Wow. Right now I hear the sound of fireworks. I think fireworks are another factor of bringing joy to Christmas. Oh, I remember my childhood days when the best Christmas parties were held every 24th December along our street. That alone completed my every Christmas before. I guess what I missed today is the taste of alcohol. I love being drunk. I think my confidence is at its full boost whenever I take shots of alcoholic beverages. Being inebriated, for me, is cool.

I hate being sick today. Somehow, I often have sickness whenever it's December 24th. Right now, I have my fever, coupled with tonsillitis, mild coughs, and runny nose. I think I've already taken my enough dosage of water therapy to further make my condition well. I also took Biogesic for my fever. I also ate papayas for my tonsillitis. But still, nothing's happened.

Oh, it's 12:08 here in my PC clock. MERRY CHRISTMAS WORLD! Will decide whether to go and eat for noche buena or not.

Miss Universe 2010

Yahoo! TV has just reported what happened in today's Miss Universe pageant. Our very own Maria Venus Raj did not win, yet she made it to the Top 5, and was the Miss Universe 2010 4th Runner-Up titlist. Here's the news:

"A 22-year-old Mexico woman won the Miss Universe pageant Monday night after donning a flowing red gown and telling an audience it's important to teach kids family values.

Jimena Navarrete of Guadalajara was first to answer an interview question Monday night and the last of 83 contestants standing in the headline-grabbing pageant on the Las Vegas Strip.

Her one-strap dress flowed behind her like a sheet as she walked during the evening gown competition. Earlier, she smiled in a violet bikini as she confidently strutted across the stage.

Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Navarrete said the Internet is important but parents need to be careful and watch over their kids.

"I do believe that Internet is an indispensable, necessary tool for the present time," she said through an interpreter. "We must be sure to teach them the values that we learned as a family."

First runner-up was Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell.

Navarrete — who's been modeling since she was 15 — is Mexico's second Miss Universe. Lupita Jones of Mexico won the title in 1991. Navarrete replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela.

Navarrete's win thwarted Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson from giving the South American country a third consecutive victory. Neither Gibson nor Miss USA Rima Fakih made the top 15 finalists.

Navarrete was immediately congratulated on Twitter by Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife, Margarita Zavala.

"Congratulations to Jimena Navarrete for her deserved victory as Miss Universe," Calderon said. "This will serve Mexico, (and) our image as a country."

With fans in some 190 countries watching on television and keeping tabs on social networks, Navarrete and her competitors introduced themselves while wearing over-the-top national costumes. They then danced in silver and black dresses for the show's opening number before the top 15 finalists were announced.The final 15 walked in swimsuits while Cirque du Soleil musicians played Elvis Presley songs including "Viva Las Vegas." The last 10 impressed in their gowns while John Legend and the Roots played a soulful medley including "Save Room."

By the end of the show, seven of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter had to do with the pageant, its contestants, its judges or owner Donald Trump. The mogul co-owns the pageant with TV network NBC.

The show was without any major gaffes, except for Miss Philippines' answer when asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.

"In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major," Venus Raj said.

Before the pageant, Raj was rated among the top contestants in an online poll on the pageant's website. She finished in fifth place.

Navarrete won a package of prizes including an undisclosed salary, a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy with housing after her reign, plus jewelry, clothes and shoes fit for a beauty champion.

Campbell won the Miss Congeniality Universe award. Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul won Miss Photogenic Universe and a second award for having the best national costume.

Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn, Mich., spurred celebrations among Arab-Americans when she won Miss USA. Pageant records aren't detailed enough to show whether Fakih is the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win Miss USA.

Miss USA has not been named Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997."

The final five Miss Universe 2010 contestants are:
• 22-year-old Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete (Miss Universe 2010)
• 24-year-old Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps (1st Runner-up)
• 19-year-old Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell (2nd Runner-up)
• 23-year-old Miss Ukraine Anna Poslavska (3rd Runner-up)
• 22-year-old Miss Philippines Venus Raj (4th Runner-up)

Congratulations, Miss Universe 2010 Jimena Navarrete!

Rise and Fall

Yesterday, for me, was an average day.

On my Facebook status, I have called it, 'my temporary RISE and gradual FALL.' Rise, because I got the highest scores in our subjects Compiler Design under Prof. Gaucho (51/60) and Rizal under Prof. Distor (94/100 or 97%). These, indeed, are to be grateful for. I know I wouldn't do these things without Him. I didn't even expect to be highest in Compiler Design, 'cause our professor there always presents complex, challenging questions/problems to his students. But honestly, in the case of Rizal, I kinda anticipated it.

When the other half of my classes that day commenced, I wasn't very happy. I got the exact passing mark of 36 out of 60 items in our midterm exam. I accepted it, with a forceful grin. Anyhow, I always said to my mind, 'be contented.'

What made me shocked was seeing my grade in Compiler Design - Laboratory. 3.25. A grade similar to 5.0. I perspired! I haven't received this kind of grade ever in Midterm! Even in my hatest subject under the best Math prof, Ma'am Quintana, I haven't received that grade (I got a 3.0 then)! So why? Did I become so negligent of doing necessary stuff? Were my efforts insufficient despite my constant, palpable industry? I wanted to cry, but no single liquid exited my tearducts. I told myself, 'If this happened to me in highschool, I would have wept so loudly and wouldn't be valorous enough to face my classmates!'

Silly it may be, but my professor gave us a chance to keep up with our grades. He asked us to pass documentations next meeting regarding our previous machine problems.

WHEW! Hope my temporary rise will be no longer temporary. :)

NEVER SAY NEVER

An avid listener of Justin Bieber's songs, I was very glad to hear him singing an inspirational song featuring Jaden Smith, Will Smith's son, in the film "Karate Kid" entitled, "Never Say Never." This song is really suitable on my current situation as a student. You see, I am now bombarded with lots of school problems. I have this thesis that I don't really have any idea where to start with. And now, another problem was just told to me by my classmates -- that the GUI application we programmed wasn't right! Actually, this application must be done right for us to have our midterm exam in CS 431L! THIS IS REALLY AWFUL. I wanna quit..

A swift rewind back to my high school days, I wasn't even at the edge of quitting that time. If I have these problems now in college where my grades are at stake for possible failure or dropout, in high school, I didn't have similar problems. You know what? My problems before were not really problems. While others want to get what I attain, I was then in the midst of discontentment. I was a consistent Top 1 in a cream section in high school, so merely being Top 2 (or 4, the worst I got) baffled me so much that I couldn't even eat or even face my family, friends and classmates!

Moving back to my recent condition now, these problems are lame. I learned that we need to be contented with everything we have. Whenever I think of my problems now, it's like I'm weakening. But then I want to be strong somehow. That's why I occasionally listen to the aforementioned song on my MP3 to at least comfort me. And with God by my side, I know I can do even the impossible.. :')